Russia says helping Syrian opposition breaches law

By The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Providing assistance to Syrian opposition fighters would breach international law, Russia warned Thursday.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing Thursday that any foreign help to the opposition fighting President Bashar Assad's government would represent a "gross violation" of basic principles of international law.

He specifically cited a 1970 United Nations document saying that no country should help or finance military action aimed at the violent overthrowing of a foreign government.

He added that the opposition's refusal to hold talks with Assad would "strengthen positions of extremists."

France on Tuesday became the first Western nation to recognize a revamped Syrian opposition leadership as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Russia has been a key supporter and ally of Assad's government, joining forces with China at the U.N. to veto sanctions against Syria over its crackdown on an uprising that has killed more than 36,000 people since it began in March 2011.

Lukashevich said Russia will continue its contacts with both the government and the opposition to encourage them to sit down for talks. "There is no alternative to an inclusive dialogue without any foreign interference," he said.

2012-11-15 13:27:04 GMT